The Nintendo Wii is a home video game console released on November 19, 2006. The Wii's main selling point was the innovative use of motion controls that its signature Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers allowed for. It became the best selling home console of its respective generation of hardware.

Wii Mini is Real, and a Canadian Exclusive (For Now)

UPDATE: This article originally noted the Canadian launch as November 30, which is the European launch. My bad! Carry on.

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It makes sense for Nintendo to extend the life of the Wii, even if its successor is now available in some territories. Who knew Nintendo would debut the Wii Mini, priced nicely at $99, in...Canada?

Yeah, I’m just as confused. But hey!

Wii Mini can't connect to the Internet, and doesn’t support GameCube games, but it does represent a new, super cheap way to pick up a Nintendo console if the Wii U, which starts at $300, is too expensive. A MotionPlus remote and nunchuck, A/V connector, power adaptor, and sensor bar are also in the box.

Nintendo has not yet commented on the availability of Wii Mini outside of Canada, though I’d suspect it’s likely.

UPDATE: This article originally noted the Canadian launch as November 30, which is the European launch. My bad! Carry on.

--

It makes sense for Nintendo to extend the life of the Wii, even if its successor is now available in some territories. Who knew Nintendo would debut the Wii Mini, priced nicely at $99, in...Canada?

Yeah, I’m just as confused. But hey!

Wii Mini can't connect to the Internet, and doesn’t support GameCube games, but it does represent a new, super cheap way to pick up a Nintendo console if the Wii U, which starts at $300, is too expensive. A MotionPlus remote and nunchuck, A/V connector, power adaptor, and sensor bar are also in the box.

Nintendo has not yet commented on the availability of Wii Mini outside of Canada, though I’d suspect it’s likely.

Considering that the wii shop was garbage and most good games for the wii don't require internet connection I guess this is a good cheep way to play games like Mario galaxy and Silent Hill Shattered Memories. Hell, I don't know.

@patrickklepek "just one week after Wii U arrives there on November 30" Are you talking about Canada in that last sentence? We've had it since launch day in US (Nov 18th). It comes out in the UK on the 30th fyi.

As I said in the thread on this in the forums before this news post went up, it's dumb for Nintendo. People already think the Wii U is just a magical controller for the Wii that makes their games look pretty. This will just confuse them even more. Plus, the first Wii is still dirt cheap. For $50 more you can get a Wii that comes with a mario game, WiFi and plays the older games. Why not spend the extra $50?

@GenghisJohn: I think it is for the same people that the super slim PS2 was for when the PS3 came out (the one that had the option of a clip-on screen).

For people who like to play games but don't have a load of money or travel a lot (mostly to hotel rooms).

I think the main problem with it isn't the audience it is to aim for but the timing that it is coming out. It would make so much more sense if it came out early next year or earlier this year - having it so close to the WiiU is crazy.

@patrickklepek "just one week after Wii U arrives there on November 30" Are you talking about Canada in that last sentence? We've had it since launch day in US (Nov 18th). It comes out in the UK on the 30th fyi.

Haha, in Patrick's last mention of Canada, he said that we were "across the ocean." ....He thinks we're England.

In lieu of not being able to, and kind of not wanting to buy a WiiU I've been going back to play all of the early Wii stuff. Totally satiated my Nintendo lust for the time being. I wholeheartedly support just playing your old Nintendo shit if you already have it because it seems to have about the same affect.

I don't know, that seems like a pretty decent subset. Just before Christmas, at a nice impulse buy price (giving your kid a Wii U for Christmas is probably too much for a lot of people), it might actually sell. I bet it doesn't cost Nintendo much to produce either. And people that don't have one yet are probably not interested in VC games. The no internet restriction seems weirder to me, this would make a pretty decent netflix box for cheap.

Did you see that the Wii sold 300k units in the US on Black Friday, clearly the thing still has legs. We'll see, but I think the Wii mini will do pretty well.

The confusion argument with the Wii U is a pretty good one though, but that problem started with naming it the Wii U.

Personally i'm interested because it looks so good, i've never and will never play a wii game online or use any of the online features, i don't need virtual console games, and i have a gamecube already to play my gamecube games. So basically this is for anyone like me who wants to just play wii games. I'm hoping they'll either release it here in the US or i can get one shipped to me for not a lot more